Halle Berry Responds to “Hollywood Bump Watch”

For weeks, the tabloids have been speculating that Halle Berry is pregnant. Her crime? Apparently the wearing of loose-fitting sundresses in L.A. (where the average temperature these days is about 85 degrees) is a big no-no. An A-lister who is not constantly showing off her perfectly slim and trim body MUST be pregnant, right? Wrong. Halle went on Jay Leno’s show last week to put a stop to the chatter the Hollywood way: she wore a teeny tiny dress with no room for any lumps, let alone bumps. “All these pregnancy rumors can be put to bed,” she declared. “I was getting a complex. I was like, I gotta stop with the burgers or something!”

If tabloids can make Halle Berry feel like there’s something wrong with her body, let’s reflect for a moment on how those messages make the rest of us feel. Here’s what one new mom interviewed forDoes This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? said:

“If the bump isn’t big enough the celebrities are starving themselves, but if it’s too big they’re pigging out. And of course, they’re failures if they’re not in a bikini six days after giving birth. If women aren’t allowed to have even a millimeter of fat on their bodies in pregnancy and postpregnancy, then it’s like we’re not allowed to be human.” –Mara, 35

What do you think about Hollywood’s fixation with “bump watch”? How does it affect you?

Comments

It’s a constant struggle to hit the point at which everyone thinks you’re just right. Maybe that’s the point, women should quit trying to prove anything to anyone. Halle Berry doesn’t owe anyone an explanation of her reproductive choices anymore than any other woman, and she certainly shouldn’t have to parade herself on television in order to “prove” she’s not pregnant.

I saw this, too, and had been following the celebrity blogs and their incessant “bump watches.”

A beautiful woman who has to defend herself over her figure is just ridiculous, yet she did it because she felt like she had to prove she wasn’t pregnant.

And I watched it, as did many of us.

Something else to remember is that in life, sometimes women have miscarriages … it’s a reality.

I think Penelope Cruz had been accused of being pregnant, looking pregnant … and then suddenly she didn’t look so pregnant anymore. She said she wasn’t, and they pressed her and pressed her til she snapped.

Now, I have *no* idea if she had been pregnant, or had a miscarriage (and please know, I *don’t* intend to start a rumor here) but good lord, let’s say a celebrity HAD had a miscarriage — that would be heart-breaking enough (were it the case) without having the media’s glare on your ever-changing belly.

“Bump watch” drives me insane, for celebrities and non-celebs alike.

Personally, I’ve gained a little weight the past year, and have felt certain eyes on me … it’s horribly uncomfortable, and I’m not even *in* the spotlight!

I love this post — partially because I’ve had my share of, ‘I better lose weight now, because I will never get as thin as possible once I get pregnant’ moments. And I don’t diet. Never did, never will. I know that line of thinking is wrong, but it’s nearly impossible to turn off.

I do, however, take issue with whayta09 and lissa10279 saying that “Watching women’s bodies is a nasty little pass time. And yet, we all do it.” I don’t. I stopped reading Perez Hilton and sites like his almost three years ago. I don’t even read Jezebel, because I hate the celebrity fixation. The only conventional fashion magazine I read is Glamour, and that’s because I had a 2-year subscription that I’m too lazy to cancel.

And yet, I manage to stay on top of fashion trends. There are ways to get your fill and still opt out of the traditional beauty machine. And I feel a lot better for having done so. And I’m a hell of a lot more fashion-forward in my dress now than I was when I read conventional magazines and celebrity Web sites.

Hi B: Great to hear – I have been preaching to ditch the fashion rags for years, its amazingly cleansing.

I can not even remember the last time I have had a subscription to any of them, and with a 9 year old daughter in the house I think it is best to limit the exposure when feasible.

This “bump watch” thing is actually relatively new to me, that is how out of the loop I am on tabloids. Why these women want to be stars more than wanting their personal privacy, I will never understand….it seems like torture to me.

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(it is the common point that she struggle for the point that everyone need and think she is rite by some points rather all of that. seem to the point that women should quiet and trying to prove anything to anyone.halle berry hs its own thinking and explanation of the reproductive choices and she certainly shouldn’t have to parade herself on television in order to “prove” she is not pregnant.